Reqah Calligraphy, a history of creativity
Al-Ruq’a script is one of the Arabic scripts. It is distinguished by its ease and speed of writing. It was said that it was named by this name because it was written – in the beginning – on patches of leather, and (riqa’) is the plural of (riq’a), which is the small piece of paper that is suitable for letters and pleasant stories.
Strength and Beauty
In its letters, the Ruq'a script combines strength and beauty at the same time, and is distinguished by its ease of writing and reading and its absence of complexity. Therefore, it is easy to learn in a relatively short time.
Reqah is also distinguished by how quickly it can be written due to the shortness of its letters, and its need for formation only when necessary, such as correcting Qur’anic verses, for example; therefore, it is the usual script in the daily writing of students of science, writers, and the general public.
Origins and development
The various collections of scripts constituted a linguistic and artistic preservation of administrative institutions throughout their history in Arab-Islamic civilisation.
These scripts were able to establish for themselves a distinguished position in an administrative and artistic context that allowed them freedom of expression and creativity. Al-Ruq'ah is the most well-known script in the group of administrative scripts.
The Beginning
The emergence of the Ruq'a script - according to some opinions - dates back to the year (886 AH / 1481 AD), and thereafter it began to develop gradually.
During the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Majeed Khan, the calligrapher Abu Bakr Mumtaz bin Mustafa Effendi (d. 1280 AH/1863 AD) improved it, established its rules, and engineered its letters to be like the scales of other calligraphic styles. This was to standardise the lines in all official transactions carried out by the state.
The Arabs were also able to continue the journey of this script, and remove the Ruq'a script from its traditional administrative context. It became an aesthetic font used to write shop signs, magazine and newspaper titles, and book covers, which represents a new birth for this font and gives it an Arabic artistic character.
The oldest example that we have seen shows us that the Ruq’a script was formed from the Diwani script, in the document that talks about the imports attached to the library of Ahmed III in the Topkapi Palace, issued on 10 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1136 AH / 12 December 1723 AD.
Script Improvements
The second boom in the development of Ruq'ah calligraphy occurred at the hands of Muhammad Izzat Effendi (d. 1321 AH / 1903 AD), a teacher of this calligraphy at the Galatasaray Institute. He devised definitive measurements for the letters, generally making them spread out, thus turning the script into a line of art.
Mushaq Muhammad Ezzat in Ruq'a calligraphy is considered one of the original sources for the rules of this script, which he established in his famous pamphlet (Turjuman Uthmaniyyah Scripts). He first published it in print with his brother, Al-Hafiz Tahsin, in 1292 AH / 1875 CE, and refined it in a new edition in 1306 AH / 1888 CE. Among these.
The pamphlet spread his style, his style prevailed, and the line of the patch settled clear and independent among the contemporary lines.
New Horizons
The Arabic calligraphy that is commonly written by the public these days is often a mix of Naskh and Ruq'a. Although what is generally known about the Ruq'a script is that it was used for documents and books, a great deal of archaeological evidence has proven its use on various tombstones, and in relatively long texts.
The Arab style was creative in making calligraphy booklets (amshaq) to teach Ruq'a calligraphy due to its importance for students of science at their various levels.
At the start of the twentieth century, the Egyptian calligrapher Abdel Razzaq Awad wrote his famous booklet (Al-Ruq’a in Teaching Al-Ruq’a Calligraphy).
Then the great Egyptian calligrapher Sayyed Ibrahim continued his interest in this calligraphy within his educational group.
The collection of gold chains by the Syrian calligrapher Najib Bey Hawawini made a noteworthy contribution. He was concerned with the rules of the Ruq'a script, the shape of each letter, how they connected to one another, and the line's nature within it.
Calligrapher Mohamed Abou El Magd
Mohamed is from Egypt and is a graduate of Al-Azhar University. He holds a Bachelor of Sharia and Law, a Diploma of Arabic Calligraphy, and a Diploma of Specialization in Gilding. He is a student of Professor Sherine Abdel Halim. He is the second recipient of the Katara Award for Arabic Calligraphy.